40 years of failures

摘要

Looking back 40 years takes us back to 1977. Back then, motorway and trunk roads were the responsibility of the Road Construction Units. These were a branch of the Department of Transport whose sole purpose was to design, specify and supervise construction of new motorways and trunk roads. With regional offices throughout England and Wales, they were staffed by experienced and expert engineers and supported by a well-funded TRL and the Department's own Engineering Intelligence [Elnt] team. It was the most efficient and effective structure for delivering the new motorway networks that continue to be the backbone of the nation's provision for inter-urban transport. Since the mid 1980s, little new green field construction has taken place. The programme came to a standstill when the aggressive environmental action on new construction sites coincided with a lack of money within Government. This major failure in policy making has led to the inadequate capacity and congestion we are faced with today only temporarily addressed by Smart motorways, and no effective forward plans in place for the significant capacity improvements necessary.